Here's a bit of optimism: Holiday-deprived people can possibly start flying again from May or June 2021.

This bold prediction was made by Alexandre de Juniac, the director of the International Air Transport Association (Iata) in an interview with The Straits Times.

He predicts that personal travel will recover faster than business travel by year end, just that it will not be at pre-Covid-19 levels in 2019, but still better than in mid-2020.

Business travel, he said, is predicted to take another 12 to 18 months to recover.

Iata is targeting to work with 33 states and territories around the world on border reopening and international flights to address the pent-up demand for air travel.

de Juniac said: "You never appreciate what you had until you lose it. People are hungry to be free again, to travel again."

Covid-19 protocol

Iata has 290 global carrier members representing 82 per cent of global traffic.

Iata has developed a protocol to safeguard against Covid-19.

Travel Pass, a mobile health verification app, can electronically capture a traveller's vaccination history and Covid-19 test results.

It will be used for cross-border safety checks.

Singapore Airlines embrace Travel Pass

Singapore Airlines will begin testing the Iata Travel Pass on flights from Singapore to London, making it the first to do so to embrace the protocol.

Passengers from Singapore to London will be able to download the Travel Pass app using Apple iOS-enabled phones, and create a digital identification with their photo and passport information.

But travellers will still need to carry a physical copy of their health certificate issued by the testing clinic owing to existing regulations.

Asia-Pacific set to recover faster

In the ST interview, de Juniac also said that the Asia-Pacific region will be at the forefront of air travel.

He told ST: "We already saw this upswing prior to Covid, and the Chinese market was already No. 1, and ahead of the US. This trend will simply accelerate."

He did caution that growth could be uneven though.

And much of it is dependent on Covid-19 testing and vaccinating.

de Juniac said: "The key will be how individual states and territories open up their borders as the vaccine roll-out and test regime accelerate."

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